Sliding bearing composite materials consisting of a metallic support, a reinforcement material and a plastic overlay are generally known. The metal support and reinforcement material are usually connected in this case by laminating means using a suitable adhesive such as perfluoroalkoxy polymer (PFA).
The reinforcement material in known sliding bearing composite materials usually consists of metal and can be wire mesh, expanded metal or a perforated plate for example.
The overlay in known sliding bearings usually consists of plastics, which have good sliding qualities and at the same time resist high mechanical stress and are particularly temperature-resistant, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) or polyether ether ketone (PEEK).
Apart from the laminated composite materials, those wherein the metallic support and the reinforcement material are connected to each other by means of a metallic connection are also known. Thus for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,198 describes a sliding bearing composite material consisting of a metallic support and wire mesh coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which is connected to the support by means of welding. Composite materials manufactured in this way are characterized by a bearing free from play and improved load-carrying capacity of the bearing. In addition, such a composite material can be formed better in comparison to laminated materials.
If the known heavy duty and temperature-resistant fluorinated plastics such as PTFE are used in the overlay of sliding bearings, their high manufacturing costs are disadvantageous. So for example PTFE is only moldable by means of relatively costly sintering. Furthermore there is a need for environmentally-compatible materials as an alternative to PTFE.